Ynet: What the world doesn’t see

Army quick to condemn rare cases while hiding daily abuse of Palestinians

By B. Michael

To view original article, published by Ynet on the 26th July, click here

The whole world saw the obedient Israeli soldier (according to his own version at least) following the order he got without hesitation and shooting the foot of a handcuffed man.

The whole world also saw our defense minister immediately express his shock and regret over the incident, while military commanders vowed to act quickly to eliminate this phenomenon. The world also saw the army spokesman rushing to condemn the incident, and the quick investigation that is already underway.

And so, the whole world again saw how wonderful the only democracy in the Middle East is, and how quickly and decisively it addresses such unusual act, “which does not befit a fighter,” (according to Ehud Barak’s reprimand.)

Oh, how wonderful and useful are those photogenic unusual incidents, which serve to hide the terrible routine. How convenient and effective it is to condemn the unusual, thus giving the norm a clean bill of health. How nice it is to praise oneself for condemning a rare act, thus clearing oneself of any wrongdoing when it comes to frequent acts; to festively renounce the resounding sins, thus cleansing the serial crimes.

Millions purposefully abused

Because every minute of every hour of every day, the State and its army are engaged in acts that are much more terrible than the act of that obedient solider. They are engaged in shattering the fabric of life of an entire people; the deliberate, wicked, and purposeful abuse of millions of people; the cold and calculated bureaucratic management of besieged ghettos; a Stasi-like chokehold over the entire population; and the official, dictated, “legal” trampling of every democratic and human right and value.

Yet the whole world doesn’t see all that. They only see the unusual cases (on occasion.) Yet those rare cases, oh how wonderful, can be fully condemned, with stunned eyes and angry reprimands.

Had I been the IDF’s spokesman, I would make sure to send one of my soldiers every month or two to appear before some kind of camera and carry out a spectacularly despicable act; after all, this will make it easy for me to condemn such open acts, in order to better hide that which is hidden.

And for that, warm feelings of gratitude are conveyed to the firing soldier.